Warning: This is the worst thing I’ve ever written in my life. Much like Kleiza, I didn’t give it 100%.

It’s really getting hard to write these pre-games with any level of predictability. The Raptors roll-over to the Wizards, then two nights later, they fight tooth in nail against a better Hornets team. Could it be that these guys play up to their competition much like the Spurs play down to theirs? Also, we (I do anyways) keep saying that this team doesn’t have much talent, but when you just take a second look, there is a bit; it’s just that the team isn’t very well constructed. They are a bunch of athletic guys, who can ball, who’ve just been thrown together and told to play nice.

While I ate some of my words about the match-ups from the Hornets game, each of Paul, West and Okafor played crucial roles in the tight win. Okafor and West especially, who combined for 26 rebounds with both grabbing more offensive rebounds than the entire Raptors team – 16. Whatever…

This Spurs are my gold-standard for how a franchise should be run. Unlike the Celtics/Lakers/Mavs, the Spurs compete while being fiscally responsible. This question is a bit lame, but what is it like to be a fan of this team?
A lot of times, you’re going through your head or discussing / arguing with someone about something in particular that you think the team should do. Whether it be trading for someone to defend the rim or play Tiago Splitter more, etc, nothing’s perfect so it’s natural to think that. But in the end, and oftentimes the discussions in the comments end this way too, you just shrug and say, “you know what, the front office knows what they’re doing.” I get that feeling that fans of a lot of other franchises don’t enjoy the same luxury.

International players sometimes take a bit longer to acclimate themselves to the NBA. After getting signed to a lot of fanfare, Splitter has seen a steady decline in minutes and production since the season started. Is this a matter of not enough minutes, others stepping up, or Tiago learning to play in Pops system?
Tiago is becoming one of my favorite things to write about, just because it’s coming kind of easy with his lack of playing time. Long story short, he played a full season last year in Spain and won the title, had a couple of weeks off and went on tour with Brazil ahead of the FIBA World Championships and then played in Turkey. He picked up an injury training for the World Championships and then another during the tournament. After a couple of weeks off he was in San Antonio for training camp and picked up yet another small injury. This one forced him to miss the vast majority of training camp and all of preseason. With so little practice time in the NBA, especially for veteran teams like the Spurs, he had very little opportunity to learn Pop’s system. And if we learned anything from Richard Jefferson last year — and, to a lesser extent, Antonio McDyess (an underrated story is how much improvement Dice has shown this season) — it’s that Pop’s system takes some time to learn. Basically, he’s a good sport and he’ll be a good rotation player, but it might not be until next season.

Career low in minutes played for Duncan, points and rebounds, yet the Spurs are the best team in the league. Do tell?
There are a number of factors for Duncan’s career lows. The Spurs always try to limit Duncan’s minutes and they’ve been able to do it this season by blowing teams out. Duncan has been able to sit out a significant chunk of the team’s fourth quarters this season while not missing a game. Offensively, the Spurs don’t run everything through Duncan in the post. The offense is predicated on ball movement and lots and lots of pick-and-rolls with Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker. But if they need to, they can still go to Duncan in the post and get a basket. Defensively, he’s still a rock. And about a slow as one when it comes to defending the pick-and-roll. But he still knows the defense and communicates with the defenders in front of him as good as any player in the league.

The Spurs have dropped a few games to the Raptors over the years, splitting the last two season series (I just wanted to throw that in). How do the Spurs match-up with the Raptors, and what will they have to do to win the game?
I’ll be completely honest and tell you that I can’t remember if I’ve caught a Raptors game at all this season. The Spurs have a habit of playing down to their opponents, but that hasn’t been as much of a problem this season… other than that Clipper game. Although, with the way the Clippers have looked lately that doesn’t seem as bad, and it was the second night of a back-to-back. Anyway, I digress. If the Spurs show up with decent energy early in the game, not the way they started against the Nuggets on Sunday, and don’t go completely cold from 3-point range, I fully expect them to beat the Raptors comfortable and give Tim Duncan another fourth quarter off.

Match-ups

Point Guard
For Jose, this is the week from hell; Chris Paul, Tony Parker and Nelson/Arenas in the span of five days. Each is a totally different kind of player that poses his own set of problems. Against Paul, Calderon turned in a pretty gutsy performance if you ask me. Keeping Chris to 6 points is an achievement onto it’s own; doing that while dropping 13 dimes and keeping the game within reach is damn good. What really hurt Jose was 7 turnovers on 13 assists; especially when you consider Paul had 0tos on 11ast.

Parker is also a devastating player off the dribble. Containing him off the hi-screen may prove to be impossible since he’s such a triple-threat (shoot, pass and drive) once he turns that corner. Expect the Raptors to get pick-n-rolled to death, and Triano to call a zone every so often to counter. Maybe he wont, maybe he will jedi mind trick them into thinking a zone is coming, when it doesn’t, forcing them to execute some weird variation of their offense that sputters and fails. Maybe it wont matter.

Jose has proven that he can run with the elite point guards in the league, the question has always been how hard is he going to make them work on both ends of the floor. I don’t mind Parker doing 20pts 11ast if Jose produces his share on offense and contests on defense. Edge: Spurs

Shooting Guard
Again, another solid kool-aid outing for DeRozan who seems to have reduced the number of bad games between the good ones. Consistency is the key with the young one, and he’s held up his end of the bargain for the most part. Listen, I like the kid, but it just feel that his game is a little too one-dimensional at the moment; a luxury we cant afford him considering Bargnani should be the only person on the Raptors with that that role.

Much like Parker, Ginobili is also a triple threat on offense, but is truly unlike anyone DeRozan’s played all season. He is a very crafty, unorthodox offensive player that attacks from every spot on the floor. Defensively, he is all over the place and will make DeRozan work on both ends of the floor. Would be nice if DeMar can return that favour.Edge: Spurs

Small Forward
I held onto Richard Jefferson for far too long in my fantasy draft. It’s definitely cost me some points in my match-ups. With Kleiza out (or he could return as mysteriously as he got injured), Wright will get the chance to shine from the tip; hopefully. You never know with Triano, really, you don’t. With Julian on the prowl, we can rest assured that Jefferson wont be sticking any wide open shats from behind the arc, he’s going to have to work for his baskets. Neither will be breaking out to lead their team to a win, but both will provide key moments.Edge: Even

Front Court
I’m lumping PF/C together because of all the cross-pollination of potential match-ups. The Spurs will field a rotation of Tim Duncan, Antonio McDyess, Matt Bonner, Dajuan Blair and Tiago Splitter. There is a little bit of absolutely everything you could want in a front court that is the 3rd best in the league after Boston and LA, IMHO of course.

The Raptors will need an encore from the performance Ed Davis and Amir Johnson had against the Hornets, but I think they deliver the goods. They both hit the ground running and are becoming quite a formidable duo. The two accounted for almost half the Raptors rebounding, and all the heart in the paint. Seriously, had they not pulled more than their weight, the game wouldn’t have been close.

After a very solid stretch, Bargnani was pretty brutal. How bad? Calderon out-rebounded the guy. For the Raptors to have any chance at winning tonight, he has to put up at least 24, and get the Spurs bigs in foul trouble; at least enough to make them think twice about defending a penetrating DeRozan/Calderon aggressively.Edge: Even

Keys to the Game

Seriously, I don’t know where to start; the Spurs are 5th in the league in points scored, 7th in rebounding, 5th in assists and 12th in defense. I guess the key will be to defend hard, crash the boards, challenge passing lanes and hit every single shot you take.

The Line

The gamblers have the Spurs comfortably taking this by 11, with an over/under of 203.5. Thankfully, it’s Wednesday, so you can flip back and forth between the game and Dragons Den to keep occupied.

]]>http://www.raptorsrepublic.com/2011/01/19/gameday-toronto-raptors-vs-san-antonio-spurs-january-18-2011/feed/15I Expect More Of The Same From B.C.http://www.raptorsrepublic.com/2009/06/29/i-expect-more-of-the-same-from-bc/
http://www.raptorsrepublic.com/2009/06/29/i-expect-more-of-the-same-from-bc/#commentsMon, 29 Jun 2009 05:51:43 +0000http://raptorsrepublic.com/?p=8611DeRozan can’t be the last “new” Raptor this year. Before getting into it, I want to welcome DeMar DeRozan into the mix. I am a big fan of the kid. He instantly becomes a big part of the future. Although he is young and raw, he satisfies the starting SG role. In fact, without having... Read more »

Before getting into it, I want to welcome DeMar DeRozan into the mix. I am a big fan of the kid. He instantly becomes a big part of the future. Although he is young and raw, he satisfies the starting SG role. In fact, without having played an NBA minute.

With so much uncertainty after Blake Griffin going #1, and the economic climate we are in, there was picks to be had. How do I know this? The Knicks bought the Lakers 29th pick;, the Nuggets got help for Billups in the back-court in 1st round and grabbed another kid in the 2nd; Houston seemingly bought almost every single second rounder…and so on.

What did good ‘ol Colangelo do? He plays it safe with takes DeRozan at 9 (the kid is sick, don’t get me wrong, I’d rather have him over anyone else at 9) then sat and watched while youngin’s like Sam Young, Dajuan Blair, Chase Buddinger Derrick Brown, AJ Price etc got cheaply snatched up in the 2nd round.

There was chatter that we should have traded down, to pick up Sam Young (or someone else) plus another late 1st rounder or 2nd rounder. I’m not sure a trade like that would be as easy as pie, since the 9th pick wasn’t as valuable as one would think. Getting DeRozan, Henderson or Johnson probably isn’t worth giving up 2 youngins who are just as good and cheaper.

What B.C. should have done was try to pry Minnesota’s 28th pick, Cleveland’s 30th (or any of the 2nd round picks that Houston seemed to be able to buy) and offered up some or all of Tanenbaum’s yacht money that $3mill and snatched Sam Young, giving the Raptors the follow lineup:

Young represents the kind of tactical pick that helps you now and later in the sense that by the end of his rookie contract, he will have hit the peak of his development, but would probably not be a very expensive option as a bench player and still be under 30 years old. Many scouts had him ranked as high as DeRozan, but since he is older with with a lower ceiling, he dropped to 36 in the draft. Whatever, the kid is solid and can hit the ground running. Memphis LUCKED out when he fell to them where he did. He isn’t as polished off the bounce and is a bit old for a senior-24 (21 seniors in the draft this year by the way) , but as Chris Denker opined, his wins in the Big East translate to the NBA (as apposed to Joey Graham’s stellar college career and how it translated for us).

Now what? More of the same, that’s what….we look to bring BACK Carlos Delfino (as well as possibly Rasho) and re-upping Shawn Marion.

All three of these guys would be nice additions to the Raptors, but at a price. For Delfino, anything more then a 3yr/$9mil deal and I send letter bombs to MLSE. Rasho…2yr/$5mill. I don’t like throwing anymore then the mid-level at Marion and even then, no longer then 3 years (3yr/$16mill deal), even though he is probably worth a little more. As entertaining as he is Twitter (here, here and here), the guy is older, and if we run the risk of losing Bosh this year, we need to go young and/or be financially flexible (aka solid cap management).

This is who B.C. thinks can help us out?

See, these are the safe, perpetual treadmill moves B.C./MLSE are great at making that will win us 40-45 games (depending on how well we start the season), compete for the 7th/8th playoff spot (depending on how crappy the bottom half of the east is playing), piss off/alienate our franchise players, and jade the fan base. What exactly are treadmill moves you may ask? The whole Carlos Delfino situation for Toronto for starters:

We trade two 2nd round picks for the guy

He plays a season with the Raptors, then leaves for Russia

This year’s second round pick could have landed us either Derrick Brown, Chase Buddinger or Danny Green, all of whom would have been GREAT kids to have at 2/3 spot for years to come

We have to bring him back, cause we need him, but we could have had one of the above kids for half the price…smart huh?

I hope I am wrong, and I have a sneaky suspicion that B.C. is trying to make more then the status quo happen, but I wont hold my breath. Come opening day, I am pretty sure the Raptors will be sporting the following lineup:

I think that is a pretty solid lineup, which would compete hard this coming season for the 7th playoff spot. It would surround Bosh with scorers, slashers, defenders and Bargnani…but you know, watching Delfino/Rasho will bring back fond memories of a mediocre team that got thumped in the 1st round to an Orlando team that an ex-commentator said to bring on…didn’t work then…

]]>http://www.raptorsrepublic.com/2009/06/29/i-expect-more-of-the-same-from-bc/feed/199Talking Draft with Chris Denker Part 4http://www.raptorsrepublic.com/2009/06/24/talking-draft-with-chris-denker-part-4/
http://www.raptorsrepublic.com/2009/06/24/talking-draft-with-chris-denker-part-4/#commentsThu, 25 Jun 2009 03:20:19 +0000http://raptorsrepublic.com/?p=8485Both Curry and Flynn can play for me (aka the Raptors) Chris Denker: The Toronto Raptors have the #9 pick in the upcoming NBA Draft and the passionate Raps Fans have some strong feelings about who they would take. Which I think is great! Bryan Colangelo and his group have a big decision to make,... Read more »

Chris Denker: The Toronto Raptors have the #9 pick in the upcoming NBA Draft and the passionate Raps Fans have some strong feelings about who they would take. Which I think is great! Bryan Colangelo and his group have a big decision to make, do they have their sites set on one guy? Will they trade up? Take my earlier recommendation and trade down? Who knows, we do know that in recent years the #9 pick has produced some great players and some flops.

Dirk Nowitzki, Tracy McGrady, Shawn Marion (Colangelo), Amare Stoudemire (Colangelo), are stars and even Joakim Noah has performed well for Chicago. Others are Patrick O’Bryant, Ike Diogu, Rodney White, and who knows how D.J. Augustin will pan out from last years draft. But that is just the point here isn’t it? Do the Raps want to get a guy to help them win now or get an Augustin who is an unknown talent and wait for his development over time?

Some of the names that pop up most on the Raptors Republic are listed below and if you’ve been following our Position Rankings over at NetScouts Basketball you’ll see some similarities.

A quick look at some of the kids that could be available at 9, and some of the kids that can fill the gaps for the Raptors:

James Harden – 6?5 215 SG – Arizona St.: Lefty, can score in a variety of ways. Strong guard with good size, can play through contact. Winner – led Arizona St. from predicted 9th place finish to top half of Pac-10 and the post-season NIT. Was all league as frosh when Pac-10 was tougher with Kevin Love, OJ Mayo, et al. Good guard rebounder.

DeMar DeRozan- 6’6 211 SF/SG – USC: Good looking stroke although streaky throughout freshman season. Decent footwork as well and really improved, playing best games at the end of the year in Trojans tourney run. Disappeared at times. Great max vertical leap, weak physically, but for a guy who’s touted as an elite level athlete why did test out slower than 11 of 12 SF’s in Chicago Draft Camp? Not to mention slower than all 16 SG’s!

Stephen Curry – 6’3 180 CG – Davidson: Best shooter at the position and in the draft. Great range. Ever heard “it’s a shot makers league”? He’s a combo guard who can flat out stroke it with range. Good handle & passer, enough to play either G spot. Uses picks & creates space well, crafty finishes off bounce. Good hoops IQ, poised, & sneaky quick. If all else fails, he has a career as a spot up 3-pt. shooter. Dad had lengthy NBA career, brother at Duke. His ability to shoot will keep him in league for a long time.

Although he is from Duke, kid is b*d*sssssssss….

Gerald Henderson- 6’5 215 SG – Duke: Very athletic. Runs floor & good leaper, finishes break well. Gets to the rim. Much prefers to shoot of dribble & good mid-range game but needs some work from NBA 3. Has size & strength to be a solid individual defender as well. Father played in league.

Sam Young- 6’6 223 SF/SG – Pitt: I’m a huge fan, let’s make that clear now. Got hurt working out for Raptors – impaled his arm on a testing device, literally had to have it surgically removed yet appeared in Chicago ready to play shortly after. Tough & competitive, defends & rebounds, good scorer & finisher on the break, improved as a shooter over career. Won a lot of games against Big East competition which I think translates. Solid shooter, very good lift fake move to set up drive. Strong & athletic although not as big as some.

Taj Gibson – 6’9 210 PF – USC: Very long arms which is why he’s a shot blocker because he’s not a leaper. Narrow frame could get bounced around & not skilled enough to play SF. 2nd Round, needs NBADL work.

Marcus Thornton – 6’3 195 SG – LSU: One of the top shooters in the draft, especially in catch & shoot situations. Not going to create too much off the bounce in the NBA. Tested pretty well in Chicago athletic testing but not as big as some other SG’s in this draft. Has worked out well for several teams so far.

Danny Green – 6’6 208 SF/SG – North Carolina: Very good defender. Versatile guy who played 4 positions for Heels. Good leader & winner, competitive. Could find a home on a quality team as a role-player/defender off the bench.

Jrue Holiday – 6’4 199 CG – UCLA: Up, down, up, down. Crazy talent coming out of HS but inconsistency isn’t good. Has size and athletic ability but not a pure PG & would be a smallish average shooting SG. Needs a position & time.

Brandon Jennings- 6’1 170 PG – Lottomatica Roma: Based entirely off potential, basically did nothing in Europe. Not a reliable shooter at the moment, everything is off the dribble. Lanky & very athletic but you may need to wait a bit for development & maturity (strength). Definitely has flash & a flair for the game.

]]>http://www.raptorsrepublic.com/2009/06/24/talking-draft-with-chris-denker-part-4/feed/15Talking Draft with Chris Denker Part 1http://www.raptorsrepublic.com/2009/06/04/talking-draft-with-chris-denker-part-1/
http://www.raptorsrepublic.com/2009/06/04/talking-draft-with-chris-denker-part-1/#commentsThu, 04 Jun 2009 04:40:06 +0000http://raptorsrepublic.com/?p=8045I’ve had the pleasure of trading some tweets/emails with Chris Denker, Managing Partner at NetScouts Basketball. Chris has a wealth of experience in the basketball industry accumulating over 22 years as a coach, scout, advance scout, video editor, clinician, consultant, writer, and administrator. Chris Denker is a 14 year veteran of NCAA Division I basketball... Read more »

]]>I’ve had the pleasure of trading some tweets/emails with Chris Denker, Managing Partner at NetScouts Basketball. Chris has a wealth of experience in the basketball industry accumulating over 22 years as a coach, scout, advance scout, video editor, clinician, consultant, writer, and administrator. Chris Denker is a 14 year veteran of NCAA Division I basketball coaching. He was a highly successful Head Coach of the Santa Clara University and Colorado State University women’s teams. In five seasons as Head Coach he amassed 96 wins and his teams reached post-season tournaments in four of those five seasons including one NIT Final Four. He was part of 5 WCC championships in 9 seasons with Santa Clara.

Up until the draft, we are going to talk to Chris about college hoops, top prospects, international players, who the Raptors should be targeting, and why NetScouts should be retained by Colangelo to shore up our scouting. Part 1 after the jump:

Q.What do you look for in a player that other scouts may not?A. I can’t speak for other scouts but one thing I look for is results. What did they get done? A guy may look good in a uniform and run and jump well but never gets a rebound and is a low percentage shooter. I would prefer the guy who has shown he’ll produce for you. The best explanation of this is the NFL Combine and NBA Pre-Draft Camp where guys are tested on their physical abilities. Look at mock drafts before these events and then after and notice how some guy who jumped out of the gym is now a lottery pick but before he wasn’t a lock 1st round pick simply because he is an exciting athlete.

Last year Kevin Love and Michael Beasley were VERY similar in their ‘measurable’ scores such as 3/4 court sprint, cone drill, etc. Prior to that event everyone thought Love was too slow and not athletic enough to play. Another example is a guy like Josh Howard who slid to the 29th pick of the draft after being the 2003 ACC Player of the Year! I guess 28 teams decided to ignore what he did night in and night out in the ACC, “he’s ‘only’ 6’6 (but has very long arms) and not overly strong or quick” so he slid down the draft board. He’s since become an All-Star and played on a good Dallas team who regularly makes the playoffs.

In this years draft there are several guys who fit this label such as Ty Hansbrough, Dajuan Blair, and Sam Young. I’ll be curious to see where they go.

Sam Young - Slept on/ready to step up?

Q. What is the toughest position to scout for?A. I think the Center position is the toughest because automatically we all love that size. Get the 7’0 franchise center for your organization! Well, not many big men have panned out lately. Although he’s coming off injury and just completed his official Rookie season, Greg Oden is a great example for this question. He has not performed to the ability it appeared he had coming out of Ohio State and a lot of people are starting to question just how good he’ll end up being. So he is replaced by Kosta Koufas at Ohio State, a skilled big man who also comes out early and is selected by the Jazz. He spends his entire year either on the bench or in the NBA Developmental League. Now the third young big man from Ohio State, BJ Mullins, is coming out early and being projected as a late lottery to mid-first round pick. This guy didn’t even start at Ohio State and his numbers pale in comparison to the other two.

Perhaps someone will take him, develop him and he becomes the best of the 3 but I think that is what makes evaluating the Big Men the toughest for scouts.

Q. The Raptors need a 2/3 that can defend and score from the perimeter, who should they be targeting?A. If the Raptors are looking for a 2/3 that can defend and score from the perimeter, they can go a couple ways. Do they want an Combo-Guard/Shooter type who can also play some point or do they want more size in a Small Forward/Wing type guy who might be able to slide over to the two spot as well? Or will they simply take the ‘Best Available Player’ on the board? Once they make those decisions I think it’s important to look at the option of trading up to get their guy or going 2 for 1 and trading down. If the position is deep or the guy you want may be available later and you can get another value pick or player for the 9th, trade it! The Spurs & Blazers have made a killing doing this type of thing over the past few years.

If it were me, with the depth available, they may consider trading down and still coming away with Young, Henderson, or Williams and another player or pick.

Demar DeRozan - A few more years?

Q. Are you suggesting that the drop off from a DeMar DeRozan to a Sam Young (or one of the other guys) isn’t that steep? Is it a matter of that player needing to be in a certain situation to shine, or their ability/skill level that makes you say that?A. Yes, it depends on how they have guys ranked and who they feel can help them, and if two guys are very close. But the consensus is that one is going very high, drop and take the other and get a second rd. pick or a vet player in the exchange. As an example, I for one, really like Sam Young and think DeRozan (although highly athletic) is a few years away. If I’m a team like the Raptors who went from playoffs to out, I must feel like I’m only a player or two away from challenging again, and can I wait on a young guy to develop? Take for example Courtney Lee of the Magic, he is a guy who played college ball, learned and developed, then found a role with a good team like Orlando shooting open 3’s when teams double Howard and playing tough defense. Sam Young, Terrance Williams, and Gerald Henderson could fill a similar role whereas I think DeRozan needs physical strength and maturity but could eventually be better than all of them. The question is, do the Raptors want to wait for that to happen?

Q. Lakers or Magic?A. I’m not in the prediction business but I think you have to consider the Lakers the favorite with Kobe and they have home court.

Gasol & Bynum will be key to the LA attack as Howard has had occasional foul issues. If LA can get good defensive play from their role guys like Walton, Ariza, & Vujacic, and Lamar Odom they could wear down the Magic.

I like the Magic, I like how they play and think Rashard Lewis and Hedo Turkoglu have been terrific so from a fan perspective that is who I’ll be rooting for.

Smart pick? Lakers in 6.

If you have any questions you want Chris to answer, post them in the comments or drop me an email (rapsfan [at] raptorsrepublic [.] com). We are working on a few posts from now until the draft, so we will do our best to get them all answered.

Chris is active on Twitter, and one of the folks I enjoy following, you can catch him at @chrisdenker and @netscouts.